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arthritis wegener's granulomatosis

My proverbial cane (part 1 of 2)

Not too long ago I had a benign tumor, or as my surgeon later called it — a mass of “angry tissue,” removed from right knee. Six months and several knee drains later (ouch!) I’m still in physical therapy and still icing it nightly. To boot, there’s now a debate over whether this is certain to be a part of my everyday life — see PVNS for more details — as it appears some of the mass has already grown back.

I was originally on crutches post-surgery, later a cane, and eventually walking on my own. But with systemic flares, from both Crohn’s and Wegener’s, my knee uses those advantageous moments to swell up and promptly remind me of my favorite French word, pamplemousse. This intermittently requires the use of a cane and prompts the saddest and most somber looks you’ve ever seen from complete strangers. Hence I have learned the following: (prepare yourself for some minor generalizations)

+ One = Crutches are a welcome invitation for discussion. E.g. “What did you do?!” or “Were you skateboarding/surfing?” or “When I had my _CL repaired I was out for __ months…”

+ Two = If you are young, requiring the use of a cane (outside of Halloween) will make people sad and quiet. No discussions are prompted by said use of a cane, even if it is cool and purple like mine, only wide-eyed looks of despondence are the typical comeuppances.

To be honest, it has been a(n) hilarious observance of humanity and I’ve begun to treat it as an anthropological experiment. I can sense that people want to ask me, “Hey, why the cane?” but no one says a word. Personally, the most intriguing part of the whole cane experience would be that this is the very least of my health woes and yet it is the most available and apparent.

You can likely sense where I’m going with this, but I’ll leaving you hanging for the moment. Time to go see if the surf is entirely back to normal after our tsunami scare. To be continued…